LEAKS/NATIONAL SECURITY/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump’s national security adviser again asserted that Trump didn’t jeopardize U.S. national security by sharing intelligence with Russian diplomats, and said the conversation in the Oval Office last week was ‘wholly appropriate.’
‘I stand by my statement that I made yesterday,’ National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster told reporters at a White House briefing on Tuesday [5-16-17]. ‘What I’m saying is that the premise of that article was false.’
The Washington Post reported on Monday that Trump revealed to Russia’s foreign minister and U.S. ambassador highly classified details from a U.S. intelligence partner about an Islamic State plot. The ‘story that came out tonight as reported is false,’ McMaster said on Monday at a hastily arranged appearance outside the White House that lasted less than a minute.
‘At no time were intelligence sources or methods discussed, and the president did not disclose any military operations that were not already publicly known,’ he said. The Post story, however, didn’t allege that Trump revealed sources or methods, nor did it say he disclosed military operations.”
-Margaret Talev and Justin Sink, “McMaster Says Trump Disclosure to Russians Was ‘Appropriate’,” Bloomberg, May 16, 2017 9:06am